E-mailing on Amazon: Tips for 2019

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Valentina Podmazina, Head of Content at Seller Nexus

Amazon sellers believe that e-mailing used to be a powerful tool but its time has come to an end due to the limitations introduced by Amazon recently.

No marketing emails, no more than a couple of emails, no asking for the positive feedback, just order fulfillment and customer service… You might think that no room for creativity is left; however, there are several silver linings. Sellers still can consider emailing a useful tool for growing ratings and sales. And the best news is that this tool can be fully Amazon TOS compliant!

We have created this list of emailing tips for 2019 for you to get the most out of communication with customers.
Let’s go!

1. Amazon TOS and Limits

According to what Amazon says in Seller Central, sellers are allowed only to contact shoppers for completing orders or responding to questions regarding the service. Amazon strictly prohibits contacting customers (by email, phone, or physical mail) for any promotional or marketing purposes.

In general, you have to contact your buyers only to inform them about order fulfillment or customer service, but it is not criminal to ask them to leave their honest thoughts in product reviews or seller feedback on Amazon. Don’t ever write ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ feedback, as you will be banned by Amazon immediately. Don’t also offer compensations or bonuses for customers’ feedback.

You see, you still CAN communicate with your customers and even ask them in your emails to leave their feedback on Amazon. Just do that carefully. Add a couple of lines with your feedback query after you inform your customer about product shipping or delivery.

As for limits, many expert sellers are sure that 2-3 emails are a perfect choice. From our Seller Nexus experience, we can confirm this fact is true, and most sellers send around two emails to their customers about the order shipment and its delivery. This is completely allowed by Amazon.

Takeaways:

• Send no more than 3 emails for each order. 2 emails is perfect.
• Don’t use the words ‘positive’ or ‘negative,’ as well as ‘5-star feedback’, etc.
• Focus on order fulfillment and customer service.

2. Headlines & Emoji

As long as Amazon doesn’t allow any marketing activities, be ready for your headlines to be ordinary and boring. Still, even topics such as “Your [product-name] has been delivered” or “Information about your new [product-name]” can be made more attractive by adding emojis.
Your headlines should be visible among other messages in customer’s inbox, so make them different to draw attention.

Takeaways:

• Don’t include any marketing words to your headlines.
• Use emojis to attract users’ attention.

3. E-mail Content: Text, Images, Attachments

Customers don’t expect to receive tons of text from a seller, be brief and concise. Don’t be too formal, keep your writing tone friendly, polite, and respectful. Use the following email structure:

• Start with a greeting.
• Thank your customer (even in your second or third email).
• Specify your purpose.
• Add a couple of closing remarks.
  Also, avoiding e-mail cliches like ‘I’m waiting to hear back from you’ will attract attention.

Except for text, you can use images and videos in your emails.

• Customers enjoy images, but pictures should take not more than 30% of your email. Forget about replacing text with one large image. Use small photos instead.
• Videos can include overviews of your products, ways of using them, and useful tips. They will be uploaded to Amazon servers and checked thoroughly, so remember about the ‘no marketing’ rule.

As for attachments, here are the best ideas of what can be included and what is allowed by Amazon:

1. Images
2. PDFs
3. DOC files
4. TXT files

Don’t send videos and large files (over 10 Mb) as attachments.

Takeaways:

• Make sure your e-mail content be structured and logical.
• Be brief, use a polite and friendly tone in your copywriting.
• Include nice-looking images that take less than 30% of your email.

4. Timing Your Sending

You are free to choose the time when your customers should receive your email no matter whether you write a message yourself or use an autoresponder. Though, not all software solutions include this feature.
Timing is what determines if customers will notice and open your email message. From our experience, the highest open rate is between 1 PM and 2 PM on working days. People read emails while having a lunch break.

The right time can vary depending on the category and even product specifics, so test everything and find out the best timing options for your target audience.

Takeaways:

• Pay attention to when you send your emails and what time is the best for your customers.

5. How Emails Help Grow Loyalty

Finally, we got to the closing remarks. It is a great time to sum everything up and discover whether emailing on Amazon works.

Personalized and friendly emails tell your customers that you care about their experience on Amazon and want to improve it. This helps sellers build trust between them and shoppers.

With trust, random shoppers become loyal customers. They keep in mind brands that provided exceptional customer experience and according to marketers’ studies, tend to make repeat purchases.

Finally, follow-ups encourage customers to leave feedback and rate their experience with you. Keep in mind that you can never ask for ‘positive feedback.’ Make sure transactions are smooth, and your customers are happy with the product quality and suggest them to share their honest thoughts.

Takeaways

• Friendly emails help sellers build trust and improve customer experience.
• Communication turns Amazon visitors into the loyal audience of your brand.
• Follow-ups drive more feedback.

With more than five years of experience in copywriting and one year in working with services for Amazon sellers, she has discovered the perfect formula for sellers’ emails. Content for Amazon sellers is at the top of both her own and professional interests at the moment. She creates useful and educative articles which balance between marketing, psychology, and business, getting the most of each topic.